WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has ordered a return of the steam catapult to Ford-class aircraft carriers along with the establishment of a new, fifth public shipyard to take on submarine repair, a White House official confirmed to Breaking Defense.
The provisions — along with the establishment of a new component repair center in an effort to cut submarine repair delays — were included in a National Security Presidential Memorandum that the president signed today, the White House official said.
Specifically, the memo orders for Ford-class aircraft carriers like the Doris Miller being built at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding to include the traditional steam-powered catapult systems and hydraulics for the ship’s elevators like those on the Nimitz-class carriers. The USS Ford, the first in its class, currently uses the new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, known as EMALS, to send off aircraft from the flight deck — a system that Trump has historically railed against.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the changes to the aircraft carriers.
Trump signaled last year that he would sign an executive order instructing the Navy to move forward with such changes.
